


French Press

by Peetabreadgirl



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-14
Updated: 2015-05-14
Packaged: 2018-03-30 11:10:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3934603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peetabreadgirl/pseuds/Peetabreadgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katniss decides to confront her neighbor because his active sex life keeps her up at night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	French Press

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this one has been written for a while. Funny story - this is the education of peetabreadgirl, kind of like The Education of Peeta Mellark. Jamiesommers23 challenged me to a drabble inspired by coffee, since I run a non-profit coffee company. When I found out the slang meaning towards the end of the fic, I had to incorporate. Hope it comes across funny and not crass. Shout out to titania522, katnissdoesnotfollowback, and bubblegum1425 for tempering the junk.

Katniss covered her head with her pillow, trying but failing to block out the noises coming from the other side of her bedroom’s thin wall. This was the second night in a row that the constant, nightly creaking and knocking opposite her own bed was keeping her from sleeping.

 

Peeking out from under the downy fluff she noted the time - 2 a.m. She groaned, tossing the pillow at the wall. _Hopefully tonight would only be one round_ , she thought, huffing out an irritated breath. The night before had been a long series of matches ending in a tie, so Katniss suspected that they would keep going until somebody came out on top this time.

 

Katniss burrowed deep under the covers, tugging the fat duvet around her head and moving away from the wall to the end of the bed, in the futile hope that the short distance would help. She would give them one round - _just one_ \- tonight. She didn’t see the need to be humping all night long. _Don’t these people have jobs?_

 

Katniss had never met her neighbors, but at this point, she was not very fond of them. Last night it had been funny at first, even a little entertaining and erotic, but tonight it was downright infuriating. Their doors were on opposite sides of the building complex, sharing only the rear wall of their apartments, so the chances of them running into each other were slim, and if they did she would never know it.

 

Even through the thick comforter, Katniss could hear the moans and sighs of someone crying  out “harder, faster!” along with the rhythmic drumming of the headboard against the wall. She heard a deeper voice that seemed to be encouraging the other one, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying. After a few more seconds and some very loud grunts and groans, their heavy lovemaking session came to an end. Katniss wiggled out from under the suffocating heat of the covers and rested her head back on her pillow. Comfortable and finally wrapped in the stillness of the night, the darkness and exhaustion carried her off to sleep.

 

 

“That does it!” Katniss growled at the all too familiar knocking against her bedroom wall, throwing aside her bulky bedcovers and slamming her feet to the floor. It had been a week since the first incident, but every night since then, the two faceless bodies on the other side of the painted sheetrock had gone at it almost non stop in the wee hours of the morning. And Katniss had been robbed of the precious sleep she valued above almost everything else.

 

Throwing on her short, silk robe and hastily tying the sash while stepping into the fuzzy, Hello Kitty slippers that Prim had forced on her last Christmas, she took off out of her apartment, slamming the door hard enough to let the entire block know she was pissed. She stomped the dark width of the building to the other side, the force of her feet connecting with the pavement causing her shins to splint.

 

She raised her clenched fist into the air and beat loudly on the door, hard enough to leave her skin red. After a slight commotion from the other side, the hinges creaked and the door slowly drew back to reveal a sleepy looking blonde man on the other side, holding the knob in one hand and rubbing his eyes with the other. He was shirtless.

 

Without thinking about what she was doing, Katniss took in his well-sculpted shoulders and arms, her eyes roaming down his very toned chest to his narrow waist and washboard abs. His sweatpants hung low on his hips. For the first time, Katniss wished she was the girl on the other side of her bedroom wall.

 

“Can I help you?” the man asked, now staring at her, stifling a yawn. His body was incredible, but...but it was his blue eyes, the shade of a cloudless, mid-morning sky, that made her shift uncomfortably before him. Pulling her thoughts together and snapping back to treason she was here, the vexation she had felt before he'd open the door rose up to quench her attraction to him, at least for the moment.

 

“I’d like you to keep it down, please. It’s been a week since I’ve slept and I can’t take it anymore,” Katniss griped at him. His blank look fanned the flame of her anger and she continued her rant.

 

“Maybe you and Miss Harder-faster should start doing the horizontal polka at her place? See how her neighbors like it.” Katniss cringed at the term she used for sex. It wasn’t something she was comfortable talking about even with her closest friends, and she found it even harder to express herself with a stranger. _A fantastic looking stranger_ , she thought as her eyes quickly glanced over the smooth, muscular planes of his chest again. He seemed amused at this, which caused the attraction she felt to be squashed once more, fury rising in its place. She did not want to be ridiculed by this guy, this _sex fiend_ , she thought. _He may be handsome, but he was probably some Chip-n-Dale type, no job and a different girl begging to be in his bed every night._ She grasped onto the ugly thoughts helping to fuel her anger.

 

“Hey, Finnick!” he called as he looked over his shoulder into the apartment.

 

“What are you doing?” Katniss questioned, horrified as to why he would call the girl out. _Were they going to have a friendly chat? Maybe a conversation about courtesy and respect for others?_ _This could get out of hand_ , she realized. Her emotions were all over the place because of her exhaustion.  All she wanted was a peaceful night’s sleep.

 

“Yeah?” she heard another male voice call from down the hall. _The hot ones are always gay,_ she sighed inwardly. At least knowing he would never be interested in her made his good looks easier to ignore.

 

“Our neighbor wants to talk to you,” he hollered back.

 

“No, no that’s okay,” Katniss stammered. “I just want some peace at night. That’s all. You guys can do whatever you want but can you keep it-” Katniss sucked in a breath and covered her mouth with her hands, unable to take her eyes off the naked man walking towards her. “...d-down,” she finished, stuttering. Peeling her eyes away from the boxer-briefs he was wearing that left little to the imagination, she wished that she had just stayed in her apartment and waited until the time of day when people were fully clothed.

 

“Sorry, sweetheart, it just doesn’t work that way,” the nearly naked man stated pompously with a huge grin and a wink, and Katniss couldn’t keep her eyes off him no matter how hard she tried. His hair was the color of vintage rust and his skin was tanned, but creamy. He was taller and more slender than his roommate, but his arrogance made his impossibly perfect good looks off-putting.

 

“Finn, cover up!” the blue eyed man reprimanded his roommate after following Katniss’ line of sight. How on God’s green earth had she never noticed these two men around her apartment complex? She would never have another peaceful night as long as she shared a wall with these two, silence or not. _I’m going to have to move._

 

“Don’t worry, Peet, the ladies always like a good show,” he responded, his sea green eyes sparkling and white teeth shining. He clapped his friend on the shoulder, leaving his hand there and striking a pose, allowing Katniss’ eyes a picture perfect view of his groin, even covered at it was by cloth.

 

“Dont’ touch me while you’re like that,” the blonde snapped, hastily removing the red head’s hand and stepping sideways to shield Katniss’ eyes from the display. She was grateful for the gesture, as it was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. “Our neighbor here would like you and Annie to keep it down,” he explained.

 

“Oh,” Finnick replied, his smile widening. “We’ve never had a complaint before.”  It made Katniss angrier, and she opened her mouth to respond, then closed it immediately. _Wait- Annie? Who’s Annie? He has a girlfriend? So they’re not gay?_ The thoughts bombarded Katniss along with an unfamiliar tinge of hope. She tried extremely and unsuccessfully hard to glance at the the blonde again, earning an obnoxious laugh from Finn as he walked back down the hall. A scowl formed on her face as she was pulled back into reality.

 

“Finn’s a good guy, but I’m really sorry to say that you should probably invest in some earplugs and white noise. They won’t keep it down for me, and I live here,” he explained. The look in his stunning blue eyes was apologetic, and Katniss felt herself softening towards him. She stood there speechless, for what seemed like hours, until he spoke again.

 

“Well, um, I have to get up in an hour, so…” he trailed off and Katniss realized he was trying to get rid of her. “Nice slippers, by the way.” She couldn’t tell if his smile was genuine or if he was making fun of her, but her default mode was to assume he was poking fun, so with a huff she whirled on her heel and marched back to her apartment, the heat of embarrassment engulfing her.

 

Katniss plowed right into the solid door when the handle didn’t turn and give way to the space inside her apartment. She frantically jiggled the door knob willing it to be stuck and not locked, as she suspected it was. Thinking back, she remembered leaving in such a frenzy that she forgot to turn the tiny pull on the end of the doorknob, effectively shutting herself out. This wasn’t the first time it had happened, and she expelled a frustrated breath, remembering how long it took the landlord to let her in during work hours. Now that it was the middle of the night, it was probably hopeless.

 

Katniss walked the hundred or so yards to the office, her last shred of hope ripping apart at the sight of the darkened windows. She didn’t know which apartment was the Super’s, so after much deliberation and a huge swallow of pride, Katniss made her way back to her offending neighbor’s apartment, shivering slightly from the chilly, night air.

 

“Look, I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” Pete said as soon as the door flew open and he laid eyes on Katniss.

 

“It’s not about...” Katniss paused, hearing the even louder sounds of lovemaking coming from down the hall. “...that.” _How is that humanly possible?_ Her face felt hot and the tips of her ears burned.

 

“I locked myself out and, um, the Super’s not in the office and I don’t know where he lives,” she rambled quickly. “Can I use your phone? I’m so sorry. I just don’t want to sleep leaning on my front door.”

 

“Yeah, you’re not exactly dressed for sleeping outside,” he agreed, and she noticed his eyes drift down her body, taking their time on her exposed legs. “Come in,” he said, widening the door for her. He didn’t move as she stepped inside and in the tight space, her cold, bare arm brushed his warm one. She grabbed the tingling skin, trying to quell the electricity that sparked from the contact.

 

“I’m Peeta by the way,” he announced, giving her a genuine half-smile.

 

“Katniss,” she whispered, trying not to return the sentiment and failing miserably. He was hard to scowl at. Peeta disappeared and returned quickly with a phone, the Super’s number already ringing on the other end. Katniss tried to block out the erotic noises and focus on what she would say when the Super picked up. _‘Help! My neighbor is having really loud sex and I’m in the presence of a hot guy and it’s all making me very uncomfortable’_ was probably the most accurate think she could say, but somehow she didn’t think the man would want to hear it.  But the recorded message she heard after a few seconds rendered her concerns about what to say obsolete.

 

“Machine,” she said to him dejectedly, pressing the end button. “Do you have a blanket or something I could borrow? I’ll wash it and return it as soon as I’m done,” she promised.

 

“I can’t let you sleep outside,” he said. The silence between them that followed was awkward as the moans and cries of Finnick and Annie escalated throughout the apartment. She could still hear the knocking of the bed against the wall.

 

“This is his third bed,” Peeta joked, an uneasy look crossing his handsome face as she stared at him, her mouth gaping. “Wow, sorry. TMI. I never hear any of this - earplugs - so I guess I don’t remember what it’s like.”

 

“Like porn on the radio,” Katniss quipped before she could stop herself. Peeta laughed and the tension began to melt.

 

“Really, though, you’re welcome to stay here until you can get into your apartment,” he offered again.

 

“Well, I can’t even sleep in my own apartment when they do that. How am I supposed to sleep here?” she argued. She realized it should’ve been weird, standing there with Peeta, both of them half dressed, with two people having ridiculously loud sex in the next room, but strangely, it wasn’t. And much to her chagrin, with Peeta standing handsomely before her, she became more flustered with each new sound Annie and Finnick made. Peeta’s hand rose to the back of his neck as he rubbed at his hairline and let out a sigh.

 

“You should stay on the couch. Or,” he paused, obviously nervous.

 

“Or?” she repeated quickly, not sure what she was hoping he would say, something akin to excitement raced through her body.

 

“You could have my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch,” he offered. Her excitement shattered, and she realized, impossibly, that she’d actually wanted him to invite her into his bed. _What had she been  thinking?_ That was completely out of her character for her, and she scolded herself for entertaining such ludicrous thoughts.

 

“No, I wouldn’t want to kick you out of your bed. You’ve been more than kind to me tonight.” Katniss cringed and looked away from him as a high pitched squeal and the name ‘Finnie’ called over and over from down the hall. She’d heard that enough over the last week to know what it meant.

 

“You could help me get back at them.  Give them a taste of their own medicine,” he laughed. Katniss’ eyes snapped up to meet his, wondering if he’d really just implied what she thought he had implied.

“What did you say?” she barked, offended at his words even though just moments ago she had been having the same types of thoughts.

 

“I’m sorry, that was uncalled for,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck self consciously again, a nervous, panicked look now in his eyes. “I’ve just, I’ve noticed you around and haven’t had the nerve to talk to you, and...” He paused, and Katniss gave him a questioning look. “And you just show up at my door in the middle of the night. It’s almost like, um,” he paused again, clearly thinking over his word choice.

 

“Like...?” Katniss prodded him to finish his thought. He locked anxious eyes with her, his smile fading.

 

“Like my wildest dream come true?” he finally admitted. Katniss tried to hold back a derisive snort, completely disbelieving his story.

 

“You’re kidding me, right?” she challenged him, putting a hand on her hip and taking a defensive stance. “Me knocking on your door is your wildest dream? Is this some kind of come-on?”

 

“N-no! It’s not a line.”  He waved his hands wildly.  “I mean, I guess it sounds like a pretty lame one, but,” he stopped, pulling at his hair with both hands. “I’m usually so good with words. I had a whole speech ready for when I actually got to talk to you.”

 

“You did?” she asked. Peeta nodded, and Katniss lowered her defenses somewhat, dropping her arms limply at her sides. “What were you going to say?” she asked bluntly. This was all new territory for her and the idea that he’d noticed her before now had her extremely curious.

 

“I can’t even remember now that you’re standing in front of me, he said sheepishly. Katniss’ walls crumbled some, his honest tone acting like a sledgehammer to her guarded heart.  She allowed herself to step closer to him until they were mere inches apart.

 

She boldly placed her palm on his chest and lightly caressed his warm, smooth skin with her thumb, something she’d thought about doing since he first opened the door. His eyes were wide and his face carried a look of shock, but he didn’t reject her touch. Her other hand joined the former and she charted a slow trail across his chest, over his shoulders, down his arms and back up, feeling every indentation of solid muscle. She felt him shiver beneath her touch and the smoldering look in his darkened eyes seemed to be a confirmation that he had been telling the truth.

 

 _She could allow herself one time, couldn’t she? Katniss thought, almost in disbelief of the way she was acting.  Could she allow herself just one lustful, sweaty, glorious romp in the sheets with a super hot neighbor?_ , she repeated in her head with an imaginary scowl. There was a good likelihood that she would see him around, and she was one hundred percent positive she would be hearing his roommate in the future. _Maybe denial was for the best this time_.

 

Peeta’s hand on her wrist fractured her thoughts, and the touch was enough to make her forget her momentary reservations. He backed away from her, turning to walk down the hallway and gently pulling her with him until they were in front of what Katniss presumed was his bedroom door.

 

“Is this okay?” he asked, her eyes drawn to the way his lips rounded when he said the word ‘okay’. His warm breath tickled her cheeks in a delicious way that caused her head to nod before her common sense could refuse.

 

 

Katniss opened one eye, noticing the light softly streaming in through the tiny slits in the blinds. Silence. Peace. She reveled in it and burrowed deeper into the warm, fluffy covers. Her interest piqued momentarily at a unique smell. Something _cinnamon-y?_ With a hint of… _fresh cucumbers?_ _It smells good_ , was her last thought before slumber claimed her once again.

 

 

Katniss startled, sitting upright, at the sound of the bedroom door opening. It took a moment for her to register the blonde, blue-eyed stranger, who didn’t seem so strange, staring at her from the doorway. She glanced down, hastily pulling the sheets up over her breasts that were peeking through the tendrils of wavy hair splayed around them.

 

“How did you get in my apartment?” she ordered, her brain hazy with sleep.

 

“This is my room. Actually,” he explained with a chuckle.

 

Panic began to set in, and Katniss clenched her arms tight around herself, sinking down into the sheets hoping to hide herself from the handsome intruder. _Peeta._ The memories of the night before came flooding back and shame bloomed on her face.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. I thought you’d be gone by now,” Peeta said, and Katniss’ eyes doubled in size at his thoughtless words.

 

“You know, I figured I’d  just be a quick fix for you, but I didn’t think you’d actually be dumb enough to say it out loud,” she spat out. Mornings didn’t usually coincide with her best moods, and she was finding it extremely difficult to care right now.

 

“Obviously, you were feeding me a line last night. That load of crap about having always wanted to talk to me,” she chided, wanting him to hear what she thought of him.

 

“That’s not what I meant!” he stated quickly, holding his hands out to keep her in place.

 

“What else could that possibly mean?” she argued back.

 

“I just didn’t think you’d stay until I got back from work. I-”

 

“Work? What time is it?” she asked, suddenly worried that she’d slept her entire day off away.

 

“It’s noon.”

 

“Who gets off work at noon?” she practically yelled, scrambling to get out of the tangled mess of sheets and cover her body with the minimal clothing she could locate. Her cheeks burned hot when she noticed he was still in the room, eyes glued to her nakedness.

 

“Do you mind?” she asked, covering herself modestly with her small hands. He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the door frame, looking away, but smiling mischievously.

 

“You know I had my face, hands and um,” Peeta cleared his throat, “other things every place your hands are covering just a few hours ago.” Katniss halted her actions, remembering with vivid detail his face, hands, and the _other things_ that had caused Katniss to give Annie a run for her money in the moans and groans department.

 

“I suppose you did,” she agreed, her voice cracking mid-sentence from the awkwardness she found herself in. “But it still makes me uncomfortable when you gawk at me.” She looked around the room once again, trying to locate her panties and ignore Peeta’s presence.

 

“On the lamp,” she heard him say, and once glance at his nightstand told her he knew what she was looking for.

 

“Wow,” she whispered, noting the scrap of fabric that no longer met at the seams, again thinking of the carnal fire that had engulfed them last night. She had been a completely different person than her usual self, a creature of hunger with no inhibitions. She blanched inwardly, memories of the way she'd ridden his face (twice) rising to the surface of her mind. She clenched her thighs together, recalling the way she'd gone down on him, shocked that she'd done it. But she didn't remember them having sex.

 

“Did we?” she let the question trail off, assuming he would know what she meant.

 

“No.” His tone seemed regretful. “Everything but. A few times over, actually.” His bashful grin made Katniss’ heart swell slightly before she reprimanded herself, knowing she was just a one night stand for him. Katniss dressed quickly, pushing past Peeta and out the door, not stopping even when he called her name.

 

 

Still dressed in her robe and slippers, Katniss had nothing to do but lean against her door in the warm sunshine of midday and scold herself for being so careless. The embarrassment came anew when she remembered how she had bolted right in front of Peeta. _She could have at least said something to him, instead of acting like a jerk. He probably hated her._

 

 _Then again, shouldn’t she be mad at him?_ He’d fed her a lame line and used her to get back at his friend. Not that it had worked. If anything, it made Finn and Annie go longer and louder. _But who was she kidding?_ She had probably done the worse deed. At least he had asked her permission. She’d just started pawing at him, letting her body dictate what it wanted while ignoring everything her head was telling her. She really was going to have to move.

 

“Katniss?” Peeta’s deep, timbered voice caused her pulse to quicken and her stomach to knot. _Oh, God. He was here._ She lowered her head into her hands, not even bothering to look at him.

 

“Yes?” she asked in a muffled tone. She felt his elbow brush her arm as he leaned against the door next to her.

 

“What are you doing?” he asked. Lifting her head, she looked toward the the blue sky that reminded her of his eyes and squeezed them shut again.

 

“The Super was at lunch, so I have to wait until he gets back,” she answered, tapping the back of her head against the door absently.

 

“I guess I understand why you didn’t come back when I called you,” he said softly. “Although I wish you would have.”

 

Katniss halted beating her head against the door and gave him an incredulous look. _He wanted her to come back? After how she ran out on him? And the awkwardness…_ she shuddered.

 

“You can’t be serious? Peeta we barely know each other a-”

 

“That’s not true,” he said pointing a finger at her.

 

“Okay, maybe we know each other _better_ but just because we did some... things together, doesn’t mean...I just mean...I didn’t know you. You probably think I’m easy, and I’m not.  I don’t know what came over me last night. I’m just so,” she took a deep breath, “so…”

 

“Ashamed?” he finished for her.

 

“Yeah.” Looking down, she noticed a large carafe next to him and a brown bag. “What’s that?”

 

“French press,” he said. “I thought I would apologize with coffee and breakfast buns. Although, I imagined you would invite me inside where there would be actual coffee cups.” He smiled as he spoke and Katniss thought it was cute, despite herself. It reminded her why she had wanted him before.

 

“You want to apologize to me?”

 

“Well, yeah. I may have pushed you into something you didn’t want to do.” Peeta stopped and grinned. “Actually it was more like something you weren’t prepared to do. You definitely wanted it.”

 

Katniss let out an embarrassed gasp, and Peeta chuckled at her, protecting himself from the balled up fist that landed squarely on his shoulder.

 

“What?” he cried out in mock pain. “It was the best night of my life, and we didn’t even have sex!” Peeta removed the breakfast buns from the package and Katniss caught a whiff of cinnamon, further fanning that treacherous flame of desire festering within her, a reminder of  the smell of Peeta’s bedcovers.

 

For the rest of the lunch hour, they sipped at the coffee, passing the carafe back and forth, warming back up to one another,, joking about all the ways they should know each other better, given what they had done. They shared the answers to questions Peeta labeled as ‘the deep stuff’. _What was her favorite color? Middle and last name? Favorite food? Music?_ The list went on and on, and they were still talking when the Super, a man called Haymitch, finally showed up to unlock the door. Katniss scooted closer to Peeta to allow him access to the lock, barely noticing the confused look he gave them when they didn’t move to go inside when he pushed the door open..

 

“You know, I didn’t come all the way over here to unlock the door just for you and blondie to continue sitting outside, sweetheart,” he growled at them. Katniss looked at Peeta, feeling confident he would say yes if she invited him inside.

 

“Would you like to come inside for some french press?” she asked him, even though they had consumed most of the coffee. She just wanted him around for longer, but a look crossed his face that Katniss didn’t quite understand.  Haymitch laughed gruffly.  

 

“I don’t think you know what you’re asking, sweetheart,” he chimed in, continuing to howl with laughter as he walked back toward his office. Peeta’s face broke into a shameful grin, and Katniss scrambled to her feet, wondering what joke she was the butt of.

 

“What did I say?” she asked as Peeta’s grin turned into a poorly concealed laugh. “Tell me! What is so funny?”

 

“You’re so pure,” he responded, choking back the last of his laugh and rising to join her.

 

“Just tell me!” she shouted in response to his accusation.  But when he just continued to look amused, she said angrily, “I’m not _that_ pure.  I’ve been listening to your roommates have sex for a week, and then I jumped in bed with you where we did, you know.” Katniss paused, trying to think of a tactful way of saying what it was they did. “ _Stuff,_ ” she finally decided, her loose waves swinging behind her as she marched into the apartment, leaving the door open for him to follow.

 

“It’s not a bad thing. In fact, I like your purity.”

 

“Good to know,” she said blandly, trying to keep more anger from leaking into her tone. “So? Are you going to tell me what was so funny?”

 

“Are you sure you want to know? Maybe we should start out with something a little more… innocent?”

 

“Peeta Mellark! Tell me this instant. As I just said, I’m not as _pure_ as you think I am,” she scolded, shoving her finger into his chest, trying not to remember what was underneath his fitted, gray t-shirt.

 

“Okay, if you really want to know...” He held up his hands in surrender. “French pressed is a term for a very - how shall I say it? - sexually explicit position.” Katniss cast an incredulous look his way

 

“Ok...So it’s a sex position. But I mean, sex is sex, right?” she questioned, not liking where this was going, but unable to avoid the train wreck coming her way. Peeta blew out a burst of air before answering.

 

“It’s basically upside down anal.”

 

“What?” Katniss flinched at his definition.

 

“And ejaculation,” he added quickly, using his hands to emulate a small explosion.

 

“WHAT?” she echoed, the intensity and tone of her voice enough to convince her that she just might be ‘purer’ than she thought. “Did you just ruin coffee for me?” He chuckled at her, and she relaxed a little. The question that was on her mind now was daring and personal, but she had to know the answer and asked it before she lost her nerve

 

“Have you ever tried this french press...ing?” she asked.  Her face burned as he raised his eyebrows at her.  “Well, you seem to know a lot about all these strange...things,” she judged him, gesturing animatedly with her arms.

 

“Technically it’s just one position we’re talking about, and are you jealous or curious?” Katniss didn’t miss the fact that he evaded her question, lobbing an equally loaded one back at her.

 

“Jealous? Why would I be jealous?”

 

“So, you’re curious?”

 

“I guess,” she answered reluctantly, unsure where he was going with this but not wanting him to think she was jealous of his past escapades.

 

“You wanna try it?” The look on his face was cocky, as though he knew how she was going to react.

 

“What?! No!”

 

“You said you were curious,” he shrugged innocently.

 

“I meant I was curious to know if you’d tried it,” Katniss explained.

 

“No, I haven’t tried it.” At his answer a relieved breath escaped her lungs.

 

“So you were jealous!” he exclaimed in surprise. Katniss was taken aback. _Was she so obvious?_ She had felt a pang of envy that Peeta seemed so experienced when she was not. _Was she so wrong for assuming he’d tried them?_

 

“Well, I just didn’t want to wonder how much you’ve done and with how many girls, that’s all. I do have to protect myself, you know,” Katniss said haughtily.  It was a reasonable sounding response, even if it wasn’t the whole truth.

 

“You like me,” Peeta said, punctuating each word by pointing first to her and then himself. Katniss rolled her eyes. Of course she did. But she wasn’t about to admit it out loud. It was too soon for that.

 

“Where did you learn about it then?” she challenged him.

 

“Finnick does lots of weird research,” he sighed, and then eyed her suspiciously. “But don’t try to change the subject. You like me,” he repeated slowly, an assured grin stretching across his face. Katniss rolled her eyes in reply and painted on her practiced scowl.

 

“Say it,” he ordered playfully, poking her in the ribs. Katniss jumped at the ticklish sensation and caught Peeta’s wrist before he could do it again. He twisted his arm quickly, freeing himself and wrapping her up in some kind of wrestling hold, her back to his chest.

 

“Admit it,” Peeta said, more commandingly this time, and his tone, coupled with the warmth radiating from his nearness caused a shiver to run through Katniss. Through labored breathing she found her voice.

 

“I like you.” There. She had said it. And to her surprise, she found she wasn’t as nervous having it out there as she thought she would be.

 

“I like you, too,” he whispered near her ear, and the sensation of his lips so close to her skin sent a pulse to that place between her thighs, reminding her that she had left her ruined underwear in Peeta’s bedroom.

 

“I just realized I left my panties on your lamp,” she confessed, pressing her backside into his hardening groin. The sharp hiss that came from behind her let her know the effect she was having on him. Katniss freed her arms from his loosening grasp and reached behind her head to tangle her fingers in his hair.

 

“Do you know what you’re doing to me?” Peeta’s words were breathy in her ear.

 

“Yes.”

 

His hands wandered down to her hips and then back up her sides, following the lines of her arms. He pulled her hands down and laced his fingers through hers, slowly turning her to face him. Katniss recognized the look in his eyes as the same one from last night, and her body responded to it.

 

“Do you... do you want to go to my room?” she asked.

 

Peeta’s lips curled in a crooked grin. “Don’t you share a wall with Finnick?”

 

“Don’t remind me,” she groaned, leaning her forehead on his sturdy chest.

 

"Well, maybe it's time for some more revenge," Peeta said jokingly, though the look in his eyes was full of the seriousness of his intent.

 

"What kind of punishment do you have in mind?" Katniss said as she nipped at the skin beneath his earlobe, eliciting a groan of from him.

 

"Well, it won't be the french press. We'll leave that to him."

 

Katniss pulled back.  “That’s disgusting, Peeta. Maybe you’re the one who should be punished," she teased huskily.

 

Peeta scooped her up into his arms and carried her to her bedroom. "Then when you discipline me, be sure to make it as loud and suggestive as possible."

 

  
  
  
  
  


 


End file.
